Sthala Mahātmyam
Ramanathaswamy Temple on Rameswaram island is the southernmost of the twelve Jyotirlingas and simultaneously one of the four Char Dham; his consort is worshipped as Parvathavardhini. Its great legend belongs to the Ramayana: before crossing the sea to Lanka, and to expiate the sin of slaying Ravana, Rama resolved to worship Shiva. Sita fashioned a lingam of sand, which Rama consecrated, the Ramalingam. Hanuman was sent to bring a lingam from Kailasa; when he returned late, the sand-lingam had already been installed, so Rama honoured the one Hanuman brought as Vishwalingam and decreed it be worshipped first. Both lingams stand in the sanctum. The temple is famed for its immense pillared corridors, the longest of any Hindu temple, and for its 22 theerthams (holy wells), matching Rama's arrows, in which pilgrims ritually bathe. A Paadal Petra Sthalam hymned by the Nayanmars, it celebrates Maha Shivaratri, the Thirukalyanam divine wedding, and the Aadi and Thai Amavasai observances as its chief festivals.